I use this soap as my face cleanser and i'm in LOVE with it! its such a simple product with all natural ingredients it does not irritate my skin like other facial cleaners i have used. I would recommend this to any one to use as a facial cleanser or just general soap. Its mild but effective at cleansing your face I usually wash my face twice just to make sure I get rid of any grime or oil. It has a mild natural olive-ly smell no added smells some people might not like the smell but it doesnt bother me it does leave a very light scent on the skin but that usually disappears shortly after using it.

The inside or core of the soap is usually green as it is made of olives, its quite big you could cut it to make it easier to use but i don't bother with that, the only negative thing i could say about this is that it some times makes my eyes water and makes me sneeze if it gets in to my nose, apart from that i love it.

I can't praise this enough If i have children i will use this on them as there are no chemicals!! Since i have started a more natural facial skin care routine my skin has improved sooooo much. Try to keep your facial products to a minimum this soap has made me realise the less ingredients and more natural products are most defiantly better for your skin. You don't have to spend huge amounts of money for a good skin care routine.

I am glad to see that some people here on MUA using Ghar soapactully i have been using this one for a year now & it's the best facial cleanser i have ever tried so far it gently cleanse myface without drying it or leaving any resdue also it is natural &very cheap yet more effective than other useless high price facial cleansers that whether are too drying or too gentle toclean your face.it's written on it that it is safe for youngchildren to use as it doesn't contains chemicals

This is my favorite and only soap. It has a lot of different names, including "Laurel soap," "ghar soap," "Aleppo soap," "Syrian soap" and various other names. When I'm in a big city, I will happily dedicate an entire day haunting middle eastern markets until I find one which carries this stuff, and snag about a year's worth if I find it.

This is hands down the best soap I've ever tried, and it's the only soap I use for face and bath. It cleans without drying the skin, smells great, and rinses off completely (unlike most soaps). My skin is no longer dry, and my complexion a million times better. I also used it as shampoo for a while, and it worked fine, but the low suds-power makes it more time-consuming than regular shampoo, plus it stings if it gets in the eyes.

I think Ghar soap only has 4 ingredients: olive oil, water, sodium carbonate (or sodium hydroxide, soda ash, which "saponifies" the oil by reacting with it, and then disappears), and laurel oil for fragrance and consistency (aka "bayberry oil" -- the higher the percentage, the more expensive the soap). The best of these soaps are sold in sort of generic plastic wrappers. A nice big cube (maybe 3" across) costs about $1.20. The "fancy" versions in commercialized printed cardboard or plastic containers aren't as good, and often have extra ingredients.

I love this stuff so much, I'm conflicted about writing such a good review for it. I don't want it to get too popular and expensive or commercialized. On the other hand, I think most people who buy this stuff are old ladies from the old country, and there are fewer and fewer of them. So hopefully enough young people will discover this soap, so stores continue to import it!

OK, so being of Middle Eastern origin, I grew up using this kind of soap. Itís so gentle and doesnít irritate my skin in the slightest bit. I use it mainly for washing my hands, because regular soaps seem to dry them out too much. Every once in a while, Iíll shower with this stuff if the mood strikes. But I mostly just use it daily to wash my hands. Iíd recommend this to anybody who finds regular soaps too drying.

I love this Middle Eastern soap (actually it's not really a 'soap' since it's soap-free), and so does the rest of my family. It's super duper gentle, non greasy, chemical/preservatives free, coloring-free, fragrance free, 100% biodegradeable, and 100% natural...it's basically made up of laurel oil and olive oil, that's the most basic version of it...in other versions they might add in some honey, sweet almond oil or essential oils like lavender to add scent. This was my only face cleanser when I was a teen (with acne + oily/super-sensitive skin)...it was this, and my St Ives medicated scrub used twice-three times a week. I still use it on sensitive skin days and I use it on my body when the mood strikes...leaves skin silky smooth naturally, heck, you can even wash your hair with it. This is a must in our bathroom closet...ghar usually comes in really huge square blocks unlike the soap/cleansing bars sold in the market, so they last a good amount of time. I sometimes toy with the idea of throwing out all my cleansers and shower creams, go all natural, and just stick to this...lol...unfortunately, I am a skincare-and-shower-product junkie and I just can't bring myself to do such a thing. Anyways, this is a wonderful, wonderful multipurpose, natural product, the best of it's kind, and a gazillion thrillion times better than Dove's beauty bar or Sebamed's bar cleanser. I'd go as far as to say that when I have babies some day, I'd use this on them over those baby baths/washes/shampoos available in the market, most definitely.I'd recommend this especially for those afflicted with eczema or psiorasis.